diff --git a/coverage/cmdline.py b/coverage/cmdline.py
index 059d42a21..f7c828640 100644
--- a/coverage/cmdline.py
+++ b/coverage/cmdline.py
@@ -85,6 +85,11 @@ class Opts(object):
             "which isn't done by default."
         ),
     )
+    sort = optparse.make_option(
+        '--sort', action='store', metavar='COLUMN',
+        help="Sort the report by the named column: name, stmts, miss, branch, brpart, or cover. "
+             "Default is name."
+    )
     show_missing = optparse.make_option(
         '-m', '--show-missing', action='store_true',
         help="Show line numbers of statements in each module that weren't executed.",
@@ -221,6 +226,7 @@ def __init__(self, *args, **kwargs):
             skip_covered=None,
             skip_empty=None,
             show_contexts=None,
+            sort=None,
             source=None,
             timid=None,
             title=None,
@@ -410,6 +416,7 @@ def get_prog_name(self):
             Opts.include,
             Opts.omit,
             Opts.precision,
+            Opts.sort,
             Opts.show_missing,
             Opts.skip_covered,
             Opts.no_skip_covered,
@@ -601,6 +608,7 @@ def command_line(self, argv):
                 skip_covered=options.skip_covered,
                 skip_empty=options.skip_empty,
                 precision=options.precision,
+                sort=options.sort,
                 **report_args
                 )
         elif options.action == "annotate":
diff --git a/coverage/config.py b/coverage/config.py
index 6d336d1f9..84d9758bf 100644
--- a/coverage/config.py
+++ b/coverage/config.py
@@ -211,6 +211,7 @@ def __init__(self):
         self.show_missing = False
         self.skip_covered = False
         self.skip_empty = False
+        self.sort = None
 
         # Defaults for [html]
         self.extra_css = None
diff --git a/coverage/control.py b/coverage/control.py
index bd7ba2e6e..cc0c271ac 100644
--- a/coverage/control.py
+++ b/coverage/control.py
@@ -831,7 +831,7 @@ def _get_file_reporters(self, morfs=None):
     def report(
         self, morfs=None, show_missing=None, ignore_errors=None,
         file=None, omit=None, include=None, skip_covered=None,
-        contexts=None, skip_empty=None, precision=None,
+        contexts=None, skip_empty=None, precision=None, sort=None
     ):
         """Write a textual summary report to `file`.
 
@@ -882,6 +882,7 @@ def report(
             ignore_errors=ignore_errors, report_omit=omit, report_include=include,
             show_missing=show_missing, skip_covered=skip_covered,
             report_contexts=contexts, skip_empty=skip_empty, precision=precision,
+            sort=sort
         ):
             reporter = SummaryReporter(self)
             return reporter.report(morfs, outfile=file)
diff --git a/coverage/summary.py b/coverage/summary.py
index 97d9fff07..986cd2f2d 100644
--- a/coverage/summary.py
+++ b/coverage/summary.py
@@ -104,10 +104,18 @@ def report(self, morfs, outfile=None):
 
         # Sort the lines and write them out.
         if getattr(self.config, 'sort', None):
-            position = column_order.get(self.config.sort.lower())
+            sort_option = self.config.sort.lower()
+            reverse = False
+            if sort_option[0] == '-':
+                reverse = True
+                sort_option = sort_option[1:]
+            elif sort_option[0] == '+':
+                sort_option = sort_option[1:]
+
+            position = column_order.get(sort_option)
             if position is None:
                 raise CoverageException("Invalid sorting option: {!r}".format(self.config.sort))
-            lines.sort(key=lambda l: (l[1][position], l[0]))
+            lines.sort(key=lambda l: (l[1][position], l[0]), reverse=reverse)
 
         for line in lines:
             self.writeout(line[0])
diff --git a/tests/test_cmdline.py b/tests/test_cmdline.py
index db70a9949..560a3d175 100644
--- a/tests/test_cmdline.py
+++ b/tests/test_cmdline.py
@@ -42,6 +42,7 @@ class BaseCmdLineTest(CoverageTest):
     _defaults.Coverage().report(
         ignore_errors=None, include=None, omit=None, morfs=[],
         show_missing=None, skip_covered=None, contexts=None, skip_empty=None, precision=None,
+        sort=None,
     )
     _defaults.Coverage().xml_report(
         ignore_errors=None, include=None, omit=None, morfs=[], outfile=None,
@@ -402,6 +403,11 @@ def test_report(self):
             cov.load()
             cov.report(contexts=["foo", "bar"])
             """)
+        self.cmd_executes("report --sort=-foo", """\
+            cov = Coverage()
+            cov.load()
+            cov.report(sort='-foo')
+            """)
 
     def test_run(self):
         # coverage run [-p] [-L] [--timid] MODULE.py [ARG1 ARG2 ...]